Event to benefit local homeless families

Tuesday

Jun 10, 2014 at 5:00 PM

An event on June 14 will benefit a program looking to expand services for homeless families in Waltham."Club Shake It 2014: Back to the 80s" is a "pop up dance club," operating for just one night a year, in support of COMPASS for homeless families, a program of COMPASS for kids.The annual event, at Hayden Lower Field, Worthen Road, Lexington, features music by Scattershot and starts at 7 p.m. with VIP cocktails and at 8 p.m. for general admission ticket holders. The event also features live and silent auctions, food and drink.COMPASS for kids, a nonprofit with a main office in Lexington, has specialized in working with homeless families since 2002, when it began providing 10 hours a week of programming for the many homeless families living in homeless shelters on the grounds of the old Fernald School in Waltham, according to the organization.In 2008, COMPASS for kids partnered with the Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office to provide collaborative workforce development training and job placement for homeless parents living in the same shelters. These efforts quickly expanded and COMPASS for kids, via their COMPASS for homeless families Community Collaborative program, is now one of the leading organizations providing outcome oriented workforce development education, training and job placement for homeless parents in Massachusetts, according to the organization.Since 2011, the COMPASS for homeless families Community Collaborative program has been working in the Lawrence area. Through education, skills training and coaching, this program has increased the capacities of parents to attain and retain stable employment. Through key employer partnerships, they link program participants directly to jobs, the organization said.The state has recently had to increasingly rely on hotels to support the tremendous number of homeless families needing shelter in Massachusetts. There are now 200-250 homeless families living in hotels in Waltham, Lexington and Bedford alone. COMPASS for kids is currently raising funding to support replication of its Lawrence program in the Waltham/Lexington/Bedford area, working with families living in hotels. This year, proceeds from COMPASS for kids’ annual Club Shake It event will help support this new program site – charting much brighter futures for children and families living in local hotels, the organization said.For more information, visit compassforkids.org.

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